Ducks Name Jean-Francois Labbe as Goaltending Coach of San Diego Gulls

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Anaheim Ducks announced today that the National Hockey League (NHL) club has named Jean-Francois Labbe (Lah-BAY) goaltending coach for the San Diego Gulls. In addition, Sudarshan Maharaj (Sud-DARE-shun MAH-ha-raj) has been named goaltending coach for the NHL team and will assume the responsibilities of Dwayne Roloson, who stepped down from the position earlier this summer.

Labbe served as goaltending coach for the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) last season. A native of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Labbe posted a 3-6-0 record with a 3.44 GAA and .889 SV% in 15 career NHL games with the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets from 1999-03. He also played 10 seasons in the AHL from 1993-03, going 202-151-52 with a 2.77 GAA and .913 SV% in 420 career games. Labbe won the Calder Cup with Hershey in 1996-97 and Harford in 1999-00, and was inducted into the AHL’s Hall of Fame in February 2016.

Maharaj joined the Ducks organization prior to the 2013-14 season in a consultant role focused on the club’s AHL affiliate in Norfolk, VA. Maharaj continued in the role throughout the team’s transition to San Diego for the 2015-16 season, where he helped Gulls goaltenders to a 39-23-8 record, 2.87 goals-against average (GAA), .906 save percentage (SV%) and a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs. A native of Trinidad, Maharaj spent eight seasons with the New York Islanders from 2003-06 (goaltending coach) and 2009-12 (goaltending consultant). He also helped develop the National Goaltending Development Program for Hockey Canada from 2005-07. Raised in Toronto from the age of six, Maharaj was a member of the 1984-85 National Hockey Championship York University team and played six seasons of pro hockey in Sweden.

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